I though everyone who paid attention in high school science knew how electrolysis works. It’s not that complicated. And it’s one of the more common chemical processes used in industry. So I guess that the engineers who designed the U.S. Navy’s newest combat ship were not among those paying attention. Neither, it appears, were the people who approved the design on behalf of the Navy. That’s the only conclusion I can draw from the discovery that the ship, the USS Independence (LCS-2), is dissolving away.

Honestly, how do you get a job designing ships without understanding the effects of immersing different kinds of metal in salt water?